Frustrations against the Foxes

Guest fan blog
Mon 15 Jan 2018

The jam-packed schedule continued on Saturday with Leicester City visiting Stamford Bridge for our 23rd league game of the season. It was, in fact, the Blues’ seventh game in 21 days, but this is what comes with being in contention for all four competitions at this stage of this season.

It was not Chelsea’s sharpest performance ever and Antonio Conte alluded in his post-match conference that tiredness may be creeping in a little. However, it was our third clean sheet in a row and this highlights our strength in defence.

It was unfortunate to see Gary Cahill forced off injured in the first half, but his replacement in Andreas Christensen meant our back three was not compromised in any way. Luckily, it’s thought that the skipper’s hamstring injury is not too serious.

Leicester City put in a spirited performance, but some brilliant saves from Thibaut Courtois in the first half denied the Foxes the chance to take the lead. The Belgian was less troubled in the second half and the introduction of Willian and Pedro gave us the spark we seemed to lack earlier on. It was another strong display from N’Golo Kante, who dictated the midfield against his former employers.

Cesc Fabregas came close to putting us ahead on two separate occasions, while Marcos Alonso’s free-kick was stopped by Kasper Schmeichel in the dying moments of the game. It was Chelsea that had the more chances, with 17 shots compared to Leicester’s 14, but it was just another one of those days where the ball just didn’t want to find the back of net.

There was a tiny bit of negativity from a small pocket of Chelsea fans following the final whistle, which I think was unfair and probably just born out of frustrations at a third successive goalless draw, more than anything. We weren’t in this position last season - the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, about to embark on the Champions League knock-out stages, in addition to the FA Cup and the league still. We are unbeaten in our last 10 games and fighting on all fronts, and this is something we need to remember. Come on Chelsea!